DNC gets new chairman...Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz

Eyebrow out, Debbie in. And she’s a formidable tactician and debater. Check her out in 2006, scientifically proving that Republicans are bobbleheads or something.

I wondered back in January whether DWS would end up becoming the Democrats’ next high profile spokeswoman, and here she is. Her ascension to head the DNC signals a couple of things. One, the Democrats are worried about the female vote. In 2010, for the first time in a very long time, women voted 49-49 Dem vs GOP. Women like Katrina Pierson and Catherine Engelbrecht lead the Tea Parties. Women like Sarah Palin and Michele Bachmann have become attractive and aggressive faces for the GOP. Putting Wasserman Schultz atop the DNC raises her profile and thereby the profile of Democratic women who aren’t quite as polarizing as Nancy Pelosi and Barbara Boxer. And two, the Democrats are worried about Florida. Obama narrowly won Florida in 2008, but Democrat fortunes have soured since then in the Sunshine State.

Debbie Wasserman Schultz isn’t a particularly impressive or inspiring communicator. I can’t recall one time that she ever used airtime to say anything original or memorable, that wasn’t also on the edge of sanity (see above). She is a strong partisan, she sticks to her talking points no matter what, and she’s said to be a strong fundraiser. So she’s the selected, not elected, chairman of the DNC.